MONEY- some REAL answers
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
-Doug Perry.
If you have been blessed with money - any amount of money - then
you are called to be a good steward of it. Somebody is going to
have to stand before Jesus and explain why we bought a million
dollar chandelier while His children's souls were being lost.
The Bible says we're to store up treasure in Heaven where it won't
rust and thieves can't steal. If we are to covet anything, it is this.
The eternal treasure is the thing. Don't you get it? That's what
dollars are for! If God has blessed you with more than your basic
needs, every single extra dollar should be used to purchase
Heavenly treasure. Any other use of them is selfishness,
apostasy and ultimately, idolatry. Not my words.... I stand
condemned the same as anyone else. But you can't leave the
verses cited above out of the Scriptures and still honestly say
your desire is to be like Christ.
When God finally got through to me and helped me see this, all
of my American business instincts kicked into overdrive. If every
dollar is entrusted to me SO THAT I can use it to buy treasure in
Heaven, then I want maximum return on investment for every single
dollar. See? Makes perfect sense. So I went on a search to first
see how my money was currently being used and then find who
might be a better investment. As it turns out, the "stocks" I'd
been buying through denominational structures and "Big Church"
programs have a TERRIBLE yield in Heaven. I can't say they're all
losers, but they were definitely under-performing their potential.
I want to find those mighty warriors, those servants of the Cross,
those who are truly being obedient and living like Christ; those who
when they pray you just know God hears them; those who have
eternal Fruit flying off of them like crazy; those who are caring for
the poor and sick and lost; those who are storing up treasure in
heaven faster than anybody else - then I want in on it.... I want to
support them, urge them on and get out of their way.
Our search for who is the hottest stock led us first to Gospel For
Asia ( http://www.GFA.org ), although we are now finding others
and will seek to highlight them at every opportunity. The native
missionaries that GFA supports are amazing warriors of the faith,
going out to hostile regions on a one way ticket with grim
determination to win souls for Christ or die trying. They sleep
on stone floors, live on one or two dollars a day, pray for hours,
preach fearlessly and raise up mighty churches of fearless
disciples - and when God thinks it will help, mighty miracles make
their way easier. All for a total ministry cost of $1000 to $1500
per year in most cases.
Western missionaries sent through our denominational structures
often cost $100,000 per year. Average investment in one missionary
family can exceed $500,000 with an average time on the field of
just three years. Many prepare and never go at all. Private schools
or tutors for their kids, healthcare, retirement funds, furloughs,
maids, chauffers, security guards, language training, internet
access and others - may all be required costs for these. Not to
mention the lost potential in ministry momentum of having to come
back to fund-raise periodically. (I don't question the motives of the
missionaries. I speak from experience here, having grown up in
that life.) Even with all of this, foreign missions is less than 5% of
total church spending. The rest we spend on our local programs,
buildings and staffs.
Seven years ago I started what became BuiltToLastHome.com
( http://www.BuiltToLastHome.com ). Four years ago I turned
it over to God and He forced it to expand exponentially (5000%
in five years!). I had a chance to build a business from scratch
and so I threw out everything everyone had ever told me about
business and asked, "How would Jesus do it?" As it turns out,
Jesus was a pretty smart guy and His plan works good.
A year ago a pastor friend of mine told me about micro-enterprise
lending and how you could start a business in India and Ethiopia
and Myanmar for $50-$75 dollars and create jobs for Brothers and
Sisters in need... Like a light bulb, it clicked instantly that I was
to play a part in that. So on top of everything else we started
" http://www.AcrossCountries.com " to sell products made by Christians
in the 10/40 Window.
The argument is simple. Christians give 2% to the church - of
which 0.01% goes to reach the most unreached. But Christians in
the USA spend 50% of their money on discretionary products -
game boys, bass boats, massage chairs, big screen TVs, giant
homes. So, if that's where their heart is, then we'll just SELL
THEM STUFF - and take the profits and give it to God. I'm
convinced business professionals are the key to remaking this
sick, dysfunctional system into what God wanted it to be all along.
Our website is just an expression of that yearning for stewardship
and has become a place to educate about the HORRIBLE job
we're doing in the American church of spending our dollars wisely
to get maximum yield in Heaven. I urge you, test yourself, your
company, your church, your denomination, your charities. What
is their true yield in Heavenly treasure? Seek maximum profit in
the eternal currency.
I want my family, my employees, you and your family and a
thousand thousand other Brothers and Sisters to be in a giant
receiving line where we get to kiss and hug the souls brought into
heaven by the labor of those on the field that we supported from
the blessing of our wealth. If Heaven is forever, I want that line to
stretch farther than I can see. I want that line to last for YEARS.
Research the ministries. Be smart. Invest wisely. Demand
accountability and efficiency. Visit http://www.ECFA.org and
http://www.MinistryWatch.org [-These are financial "watchdogs" that
report on the way that large ministries use their money]. If they
can't be trusted with the little things, they can't be trusted with
the big things. Would Jesus of Nazareth drive a Bentley or a
Rolls Royce? There are some serious wolves out there amongst
the sheep.
Whether entrusted with a little or a lot, we'll all be called to account
for our stewardship of God's blessings.
~Doug Perry.
Email - whwd@whathavewedone.org
Website - http://www.WhatHaveWeDone.org
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